Setting a Battery on Concrete Myth Answered

I always thought that sitting batteries on a concrete garage floor would suck out the charge. If it were true, wouldn’t direct contact with the ground do the same?…but is the concrete myth even true?

I’ll take this one on.

No, it’s not true at all. Through the automotive ages, when a guy works on his car (in the garage) and he has to remove the battery, does he pick up the heavy thing, lift it high and put it on a flimsy shelf where it can break the shelf or fall off of it? Or, does he do the normal common sense thing of hefting it out of the car and lowering it onto the floor? Of course, he puts it on the floor, which in most garages, is made of concrete. The only thing that ‘sucks’ the power out of the battery, is the act of leaving it out of the car for many months at time uncharged to slowly sulfate itself to death. It would do the same thing if it were sitting in the living room on a coffee table along with Harper’s Bazaar. In fact, the concrete floor ‘may’ actually help keep the battery alive longer than a shelf or the coffee table would, because it is usually ground temperature and thus, cooler, which is better for storing a battery for a long period of time.

I hear this old myth 100s of times a year, I swear. Maybe we should send this in to Myth Busters?

3 Responses to Setting a Battery on Concrete Myth Answered

Here is a quote from the Trojan Battery website which explains where this idea came from:

Quote from: http://www.trojan-battery.com/Tech-Support/FAQ.aspx
â€¢ Storing a battery on concrete will discharge it quicker- Long ago, when battery cases were made out of natural rubber, this was true. Now, however, battery cases are made of polypropylene or other modern materials that allow a battery to be stored anywhere. A batteryâ€™s rate of discharge is affected by its construction, its age, and the ambient temperature. The main issue with storing on concrete is that if the battery leaks, the concrete will be damaged.

I’ve stored modern lead-acid batteries on a concrete floor without discharge issues. The biggest issue I’ve found is that the battery acid destroys the concrete floor. Putting down some newspaper or cardboard fixes this.

Iâ€™ve heard that it was true at one time when they did not design a derbies well at the bottom of the battery. And the plates would sit right on top of the base.
Sounds plausible Thou I donâ€™t know myself. I think the myth busters Idea might be good.

Oh I just read David Nelsons post and Iâ€™ve also heard that. Maybe a combination of the two factors.